Brian Murphy, owner of Third Dimension Tattoo in Marshalls Creek, has become co-owner of six classic magazine titles that will now be based in the Poconos.

The magazines are Outlaw Biker, Skin Art, Tattoo Revue, Tattoos for Men, Tattoos for Women and Tabu Tattoo.

Murphy was invited to partner with Carlo Fodera, owner of New York-based Technical Tattoo Supply, which sells inks and other tattoo supplies.

Technical Tattoo Supply advertised in the magazines, and Fodera learned that founder Casey Exton, at 83, was ready to turn the titles over to someone else.

Exton started Outlaw Biker in the 1980s and added the other titles along the way.

Ownership of the magazines transferred in September, Murphy said.

Readers can expect some changes. There will be thicker, glossy paper and issues will be bound more like a book instead of with staples, giving the publications a more substantial, higher-quality feel. For the first time, the magazines will also be offered digitally.

“We are not sure we are keeping all the titles. Outlaw Biker, Skin Art and Tattoo Revue will definitely stay. The others may come out less frequently. That is still being determined,” Murphy said.

The titles have been on autopilot for the last few years, pulling old content from back issues, Murphy said.

All the titles show scantily clad women and target edgy subcultures. Tabu Tattoo features gothic models, body modification, piercings and body suspension in which participants hang from hooks pierced through the skin.

Outlaw Biker has a circulation of 55,000 bimonthly readers, and the other titles are close to that, Murphy said.

He acknowledges the magazine industry has changed, especially for the very visual tattoo industry.

Today, most people go to Instagram to look at tattoo art. An Instagram account is free compared to $16,000 to publish just one issue of Skin Art.

Murphy’s motivation is more art than money.

“I’m a painter. There are a lot of other painters in the tattoo industry. We’ve developed a genre of art that the fine art world is ignoring. Skin Art is a great opportunity to use it as a platform to share what the industry is doing. Money-wise, it’s a tough thing.”

This is a time of a tattoo renaissance, with more tattoo artists and more people getting tattoos.

“There is no modern art that is loved like tattoo art. There is no more popular art than modern tattoo work. Yet, you will never see the work done by tattoo artists in the Museum of Modern Art,” Murphy said, and the magazines are the art gallery for the industry.

Brian Murphy, owner of Third Dimension Tattoo in Marshalls Creek, has become co-owner of six classic magazine titles that will now be based in the Poconos.

The magazines are Outlaw Biker, Skin Art, Tattoo Revue, Tattoos for Men, Tattoos for Women and Tabu Tattoo.

Murphy was invited to partner with Carlo Fodera, owner of New York-based Technical Tattoo Supply, which sells inks and other tattoo supplies.

Technical Tattoo Supply advertised in the magazines, and Fodera learned that founder Casey Exton, at 83, was ready to turn the titles over to someone else.

Exton started Outlaw Biker in the 1980s and added the other titles along the way.

Ownership of the magazines transferred in September, Murphy said.

Readers can expect some changes. There will be thicker, glossy paper and issues will be bound more like a book instead of with staples, giving the publications a more substantial, higher-quality feel. For the first time, the magazines will also be offered digitally.

“We are not sure we are keeping all the titles. Outlaw Biker, Skin Art and Tattoo Revue will definitely stay. The others may come out less frequently. That is still being determined,” Murphy said.

The titles have been on autopilot for the last few years, pulling old content from back issues, Murphy said.

All the titles show scantily clad women and target edgy subcultures. Tabu Tattoo features gothic models, body modification, piercings and body suspension in which participants hang from hooks pierced through the skin.

Outlaw Biker has a circulation of 55,000 bimonthly readers, and the other titles are close to that, Murphy said.

He acknowledges the magazine industry has changed, especially for the very visual tattoo industry.

Today, most people go to Instagram to look at tattoo art. An Instagram account is free compared to $16,000 to publish just one issue of Skin Art.

Murphy’s motivation is more art than money.

“I’m a painter. There are a lot of other painters in the tattoo industry. We’ve developed a genre of art that the fine art world is ignoring. Skin Art is a great opportunity to use it as a platform to share what the industry is doing. Money-wise, it’s a tough thing.”

This is a time of a tattoo renaissance, with more tattoo artists and more people getting tattoos.

“There is no modern art that is loved like tattoo art. There is no more popular art than modern tattoo work. Yet, you will never see the work done by tattoo artists in the Museum of Modern Art,” Murphy said, and the magazines are the art gallery for the industry.